Ecology: Concepts and Applications 4th Edition by Manual Molles

Exercise 2

While populations of gray and blue whales have grown rapidly, the North Atlantic right whale population remains dangerously small despite many decades of complete protection. Assuming that differences in population growth rates are determined by whale life histories and not by external factors such as pollution, what information would you need to explain the slower growth by the right whale populations? (Hint: While female gray and blue whales give birth every 2 years, right whales give birth only every 4 to 7 years.)